The UN Road Safety Fund coordinates activities at the multilateral level and seeks to mitigate the systemic, structural poverty, issues that contribute to death and injuries on roads in low-to-middle income countries, and it is run by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), which acts as the Secretariat of the Road Safety Fund, an initiative led by the FIA Foundation, a UK Charity, created by the Federation Internationale des Automobiles.
With road deaths at 1.35 million a year, plus 50 million in serious related injuries, worldwide, the issue of safe roads design calls for concerted action between UN country-members and the private sector.
90% of road deaths and serious injuries occur in mid-to-low income countries, and an estimated 250 thousand children die every year in road accidents in developing and poor countries, with Sub-Saharan Africa registering the greatest number of deaths.
To speak about the UN Road Safety Fund we interviewed Mr. Saul Billingsley, Executive Director of the FIA Foundation, to speak about current efforts to make road safety design a priority in urban planning, and their ambitious fundraising goals of USD $300 millionfor the next five years.
